HISTORY/BACKGROUND:
The ROHS Opera House (pronounced ROSS) was built in 1871, and was originally named The Aeolian Hall. Years later, in 1941, the building was expanded upon, and renamed to Rohs Opera House. This building has such rich history from its beginning, and has been a staple in Cynthiana since its opening. Upon hearing about this opera house, the team was excited about the opportunity to investigate.
CLAIMS:
There are many claims of hauntings and sightings throughout the buildings history; so much so that it is now fairly well-known to investigators states away. I will touch on the most prevalent claims, and the claims that we were able to debunk, or compare with personal experiences/recordings.
Auditorium: This area is where most of the sightings take place. There have been many reports of whistling being heard throughout the building, coming from the Auditorium. Many people over the years have said to have seen or heard children running up and down the aisles during shows. There are also many reports of (only women) feeling someone (or something) stroking their hair during performances. There are also many accounts around the stage; shadowy figures have been seen darting across the stage, as well as hearing footsteps. At the back of the Auditorium, there is a small walkway that separates the seats from the restrooms. A “Woman in White”, as well as a shadow figure have been seen walking from the restrooms, through the wall, and then vanishing.
Aeolian Room: There has been reports of a man standing/pacing in the corner of the room. There are also reports of the chairs moving position in this room. The door to this room has also been heard opening and shutting when no one is upstairs (this particular door is very loud, and can be heard almost anywhere in the opera house).
THE INVESTIGATION:
We met with the owner, Roger, who gave us a tour, the keys, and the best of luck. We discussed where we would like cameras to be set up, then started bringing in the equipment.
While setting up equipment to start our investigation, we all three heard a whistle. It was long and clear, piercing the air. Startled, and excited, we quickly grabbed our recorders, and rushed into the Auditorium. Mark tried a few times to get whatever had gotten our attention to make another noise, but we had no luck. Disappointed, but exhilarated, we went back to our equipment to quickly finish setting up. The rest of the set up time when smoothly, for the most part. The building is old, and technology has changed so much over the years, it took some time to figure out how to best hook our equipment up. We set up our cameras on the ground level, and went upstairs to add cameras to the Aeolian Room, the Balcony, and the upstairs hallway. On multiple occasions, and throughout the beginning of the night, we all three felt a similar sensation while heading up the stairs into the hallway (which will take you either to the Balcony, or the Aeolian Room). Mark had the sensation first; towards the top of the steps he became lightheaded and dizzy. Mandy and I had a similar sensation on another trip up the same steps, in the same area. We both felt a little dizzy, and also felt pressure on our chests, like we were being pushed back. As the night went on, these sensations eventually stopped.
Once all of the equipment was set up, it was time to get to the fun part, the actual investigation. We decided that Mandy, along with myself, would go out first to do some EVP work in the Aeolian Room (circa 1871). That’s where the fun began, we just didn’t know it at the time. The claim in this specific room is that a shadowy figure of a man is seen standing/pacing in a corner of the room. We also learned that chairs have been seen moving slightly in the room. Once we were settled in our seats, recorder ready, we started asking the typical questions: Is anyone here? Would anyone like to spend some time with us? How long have you been here? Etc...
In the midst of introductions and playing twenty questions with our nameless friend, we heard what sounded like rustling papers, and soft footsteps coming from the corner where the alleged “shadow man” likes to pace. These sounds eventually died down, and we decided to leave the room, allowing our possible entity to have some privacy. I left another recorder in this room, hoping to catch the “shadow man” after we left the area.
We then headed to the balcony. The claims for this area are few and far between. Occasionally, people (mostly women) have felt or heard children in the aisles or seats during performances. We took our seats in separate areas of the Balcony, and started up another EVP session. We both thought we heard some rustling on one of the sound tables in the far corner, but nothing more than that. I had an experience that we cant quite explain. We sat, mostly in silence, waiting and listening for an entity to come forward. I felt a sudden chill on the back of my neck (keep in mind that the building doesn’t have any AC), I chalked it up to nothing at the time, after all, this was my first investigation, and my excitement level was high to say the least. A few minutes passed, and as I sat, head bowed, listening for something, anything, the chair directly to my right let out a shrill squeak. I whipped my head around, along with Mandy: we spotted nothing, and made a note to check the video recording later. We stayed a little while longer, then wrapped up and regrouped at the lobby. After reviewing the audio and recordings around that time, unfortunately nothing was spotted by the group. Still, it was an interesting experience.
We left the Balcony and headed back down to the lobby to regroup; it was decided that Mark and I would go out next. We headed up to the hallway (mentioned above). We did a quick EVP session, along with an EMF meter; without any luck. Things had died down (no pun intended) it seemed. We then headed down into the Auditorium. We sat in the front row for while, asking some questions, and trying to get a response. We didn’t have any luck at this point, but stayed in the hopes that something would come forward: and something did. A flash of white flew over the stage; at first it looked like a light had caught in the reflection of a watch. It happened again and agin, starting and finishing in different places each time. Finally, we caught a glimpse of what it was; a bat! While it wasn’t a ghostly presence that we were hoping for, the bat showing itself helped us to understand and debunk some of the noises that people had reported hearing. After all, this is why Investigators do what they do; gather evidence, debunk everything THEY can, and then whatever you are left with is the unexplained. Once the bat was spotted, anything we would potentially catch on audio wouldn’t be credible, so we went back to the lobby.
We decided to give the Aeolian Room one last chance. Mark and Mandy went up to do one more EVP session before we ended the night and started to pack up. Nothing happened during that session, apart from the fluttering of bat wings heard in a closed off corner of the room. Which, again, isn’t necessarily what we came for, but was an interesting find nonetheless. All in all, it was an interesting night, and we are all very excited to go back to Rohs again in a few short weeks.
EVIDENCE:
Unfortunately, we didn’t catch much in the way of evidence during this investigation. Other than our personal experiences (which were interesting if nothing else) we only caught a few audio recordings that are credible. In most of these, what sounds like footsteps can be heard (these are from the recorder that was left on a table alone in the Aeolian Room) when no one was on the second floor, let alone in this room. The only other piece of solid evidence found on this investigation is a possible voice answering a question during an EVP session in the Aeolian Room.
DEBUNKED:
Since not much was caught on camera or in audio, we didn’t debunk much. Although, once we found out that there are bats in the building, that can explain a lot of rustling and noises that have been heard at night.
All in all, it was an interesting night, and we are excited to go back for part two! Stay tuned until then!